Eating utensils such as the spoon, knife, and fork are common tableware items of cutlery people use for eating. The utensils allow individuals to manipulate and handle their food in a manner determined by the form and function of the eating utensil. A knife generally has a sharp edge and can be used to cut and divide food morsels into smaller size pieces. A fork generally includes three or four tines for manipulating and holding food objects. The fork can be used to poke, prod, or grapple pieces of food, hold onto pieces of food, or hold down pieces of food. A spoon has a generally concave surface for conveying food or liquid to the mouth or for stirring. A spoon has a generally smooth continuous contour for holding or eating liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as soup, stew, or ice cream, and very small items which cannot be easily captured or lifted with a fork.
A hybrid form of cutlery is the spork which includes a combination of a fork, spoon, and knife. It is based upon a spoon, with the addition of the tines of a fork, and sometimes the serrated edge of a knife. Various utensils such as tongs, chopsticks, serving spoons, scoopers, scissor tongs, bendable utensils, and easy grip utensils, have also been used for providing novel means of working with food. Special need utensils also exist which combine various functionalities of the spoon, knife, and fork into one utensil for allowing disabled persons to more effectively handle food.
In general, people have adapted well to currently available utensils such as the fork, spoon, and knife. These utensils can be used together in various arrangements for accomplishing a specific function for handling and manipulating food. A person can adequately adapt to the function and form of the utensil. For example, a user can learn that a spoon is more useful for handling liquids than is a fork or knife. A user can recognize that a fork is more useful for holding down food objects than a spoon. Users learn to adapt the manner in which they manipulate food based on the utensil being handled.
There are certain times for which standard eating utensils are used in conjunction with another utensil for accomplishing a specific function. For example, a knife may be used in combination with a fork to push a piece of food onto a fork. This combinational approach can be used when a piece of food tends to slide around or is not directly accessible. A user is generally required to use both hands to simultaneously handle both utensils. However, in certain cases, a user may only have one hand available or access to only one eating utensil. In these conditions, the user can be required to learn how to accomplish the same functions given only one utensil which may not provide adequate functionality. A need therefore exists for an eating utensil that provides multifunctional capabilities within a single design.